The Great Fire (Newbery Honor)

Nov 14, 2009 Mallory rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: informational, award-winners

Awards Won: Newbery Honor (1996)

As someone who is not a native Chicagoan, I found this book very fascinating and educational. The photographs that accompanied the narrative provided a great mental image of the destruction that Chicago faced that tragic night.

I think that this would be a great book to use when third graders learn about Chicago. The book is definitely appropriate for older readers, but could be used for a whole group read-aloud to engage the students. Other content areas could al...more

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Nov 20, 2009 Jennifer Tarr rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

This was a solid, relatively quick-to-read documentary of the fire that destroyed Chicago. Murphy's data was facts based on personal accounts of several people—the O’Learys (whose cow, some claim, started the fire), a former alderman, a reporter for the Chicago Evening Post, the Chicago Tribune editor, men and a young girl. His facts were also based on pictures, diagrams and related data (such as notations of what fire alarms had been sounded and when). He organized them in the order of when the...more

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Nov 19, 2012 Nora Alomari rated it 4 of 5 stars

Grade Level Interest: 3rd-5th grade
Lexile Level: 1130L
Genre: Information Book

Main Characters: None
Setting: Chicago
POV: none

This is an informational text that is appealing to young children that talks about The Great Fire that occurred in Chicago in 1871. The book talks about this historical event, how it all stated, and how it would it shape Chicago into the city it is today. It explains that how back in those days controlling fires was difficult and especially in city that was made out of wood...more

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Apr 13, 2012 Errin Tucker rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-literature

This book is nonfiction and is written for more Advanced reader. This book is a Newberry Honor Book, Boston Globe-Horn Book Nonfiction Honor Book and NCTE Orbis Pictus Award winner for Outstanding Nonfiction.

This story was written for more advanced readers such as 5th grade and above. This story is about the major Chicago fire in 1871 that changed the lives of people forever.

I rated this story with 5 stars. There were some pictures that were hand drawn and some photographs. The story was told in...more

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Aug 25, 2012 Tamara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Description

Review: The great fire
Editorial Review - Kirkus Reviews
A veritable cinematic account of the catastrophe that decimated much of Chicago in 1871, forcing more than 100,000 people from their homes. Murphy (Night Terrors, 1993) tells the story through the eyes of several survivors. He focuses on real-life people such as the O'Learys, in whose barn the fire began; James Hildreth, a politician who thought the best way to stop the fire was to blow up houses in its path and create a ""fire b...more

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May 14, 2013 S. J. rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone (children within the recommended age limts however)

Recommended to S. by: The Author (courtesy of another book)

Shelves: award-winning, favorites, history, non-fiction, the-shelf-of-awesomeness, where-was-it-when-i-was-young, ya

*5 Stars*

Before reading another of his Children's history books, I had written off non-fiction history books labeled for Children or YA because...they JUST WEREN'T GOOD! They wrote down to their readers, as if people without at least a college education couldn't hope to comprehend anything "history". I learned history on my dad's knee and he never talked down to me. So I skipped YA and children's and when straight to reading adult books. Some were extremely difficult to get through and I never g...more *5 Stars*

Before reading another of his Children's history books, I had written off non-fiction history books labeled for Children or YA because...they JUST WEREN'T GOOD! They wrote down to their readers, as if people without at least a college education couldn't hope to comprehend anything "history". I learned history on my dad's knee and he never talked down to me. So I skipped YA and children's and when straight to reading adult books. Some were extremely difficult to get through and I never got everything. It wasn't until graduate school that I was introduced to Jim Murphy through his An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793, also a Newbery Honor Book as well as other awards. It was at times a difficult book for me to read, as the writer does not pull any punches, so to speak. It does not glorify in the disgusting, but it doesn't lie and try to write it down to what the author thinks they should hear. It is a history text with sources, lists of further books to look into, and (most importantly) it is based on mostly primary sources - aka, writings from people who WERE ACTUALLY THERE! Most history text in high school, never mind for children, wouldn't dream of using primary sources but rather secondary or even tertiary sources - texts and books written from other sources that were written from other sources that were written from primary sources. When this happens the heart of history is distilled down until it is dry and boring; something most people argue when they talk about why they don't like history. But when a young person reads what someone actually experienced, particularly when at least one of those people is someone of a comparable age, it ceases to be boring and not interesting but rather something that can actually touch them. They can understand and empathize and perhaps, want to learn more. The same can be said for this book.

*The Gush*
The author does an excellent job of walking you through the hours during which Chicago burned. It is a, sadly, easy subject to keep a person's interest as the sheer detestation is almost unbelievable. The people whose words he gives voice are good choices from various sections and equally various backgrounds. What they see and how they interpret the events changes and he does a good job of pointing this out and helping the reader understand why. He never suggests you don't know better or you can't learn but rather teaches you without you even noticing. The writing flows well and keeps the readers focus well. The illustrations are well chosen, places carefully and with thought, and aid the story a great deal. The best are the I believe four maps of the city that show the path of fire as it is during the chapter you just read. This aids tremendously, as most readers won't know where places are, and they are easy to flip back to to check where the person is as you read.
Murphy writes the facts of the fire and waits until the last chapter to deal with the myths surrounding the fire and why they exist and how they were used. Even I learn a great deal in this chapter and was very surprised. He helps lead the reader to critical thinking, something every child should learn and something that is lacking in much of our history texts. Names and dates are all very well, but society and WHY people do things are often even more important.
All in all, a fine history book that is equally fine for children and adults.

*The Rant*
Little here other then at times the descriptions might be a bit too much for younger readers. Parents might want to be aware. They were not graphic however and most children should be able to handle it.

*Conclusion*
A wonderful children's history book that treats its readers better then many adult popular history texts do. A great way to learn about The Great Chicago Fire whether you are a child or an adult.(less)

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Oct 23, 2010 Kristi Herting rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was really interesting, and I enjoyed it more than I thought I might. Mr. Murphy described things so well, you felt as if you were present. I enjoyed the drawings and photographs throughout, and the maps that showed the spread of the fire, spaced throughout the book, really brought home the enormity of the devastation. Rumors abounded as to the cause of the fire, and though there is no doubt as to where the fire started, no one knows HOW it started. Mr. Murphy proposes that although th...more

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May 14, 2009 Cathy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: teen-book

First I should say that I'm not a reader of non-fiction. I read very little, either for teens or adults. However, I was taken with The Great Fire. I admit it was slow going at first book, but after putting it aside for a couple of hours, I returned and finished it and found it interesting and moving.

The eye witness reports were tied together very skillfully. I just kept getting confused. But when the fire picked up and the panic, the story became riveting. I particularly liked how Murphy went p...more

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Oct 23, 2012 Stephanie Gulliver rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: award-winner, informational, 6-8, 3-5

Summary: A Newbery Honor book, The Great Fire shows from beginning to end of how the Chicago fire took place. Starting at a barn on the West side and spreading throughout the city, this book shows the mistakes made during this tragic event. With maps and pictures, this book goes into every detail of what exactly took place. The personal stories in this book are what make it so real. This book will put you in the place of all these people. You can see what it was like to feel the hurt, fear, and...more

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Nov 14, 2009 (NS)Jordyn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-s-lit, informational-books-and-biographies

This is a very different version of the story of the Chicago Fire than I have ever heard before. It uses real accounts from various people, photos, maps, and artifacts to tell the story of the errors, mistakes, and confusion that made the Chicago Fire the infamous disaster it became. Listening to this book had both its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was the way it was read. Listening to the various accounts of actual people who were involved in the Chicago Fire read with such energy...more

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Sep 12, 2011 Doreen Platt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Murphy, Jim. The Great Fire. New York: Scholastic, 1995. Print.

This 1996 Newbery Honor book, which I thought would be a good choice for the Informational Book genre, was written by Jim Murphy. The great Chicago fire of 1871 was one of the most horrible disasters in American history. In the space of less than 24 hours, the thriving city of Chicago was transformed into a desolate wasteland. More than 100,000 people were rendered homeless, and amazingly, only about 300 people lost their lives. Mr....more

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Dec 11, 2011 Leatha added it

The night of October 8, 1871 would change the city of Chicago forever. A fire broke out in the barn of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary. Before the fire could be put out it spread over four miles right in the center of Chicago. The fire left almost 100,000 people homeless. The book tells eye witness stories about what happened during the fire. The book also goes through/talks about the lives during and after the fire and the hardships they went through.

This would be a great book for students to re...more

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Feb 24, 2011 Quentin rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book follows the tale of several survivors of the Chicago fire, I am required to read a Non-fiction book once every 9-weeks, and so I decided on this quick and simple historical narrative. This book is far easier to comprehend then the other books I have reviewed, namly Moby Dick and the 1001 Nights, but even still it was a charming read and an interesting story. It follows survivors such as the O'Learys whose barn the fire began in, Daniel "Peg Leg" Sullivan who discovered the fire, and th...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Ann Carpenter rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: newbery, nonfiction

A fabulous depiction of the Great Fire of Chicago. The book gives excellent context to the fire, its causes, the aftermath, and the social and political landscape that shaped people's understanding of what happened both during and after the fire. I highly recommend it to those who enjoy history. By focusing on four witnesses, one of them a 12 year old girl, the overwhelming nature of the story - as well as the very different experiences in different parts of the city - is kept to a manageable le...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Christian B added it

I think that The Great Fire by Jim Murphy was a fantastic read. It explained the events of the fire thoroughly, but kept the book condensed, without dragging it out. This book shows how the fire started, how it ended, and everything in the middle. It also had detailed maps, pictures, quotes from the people who were in the fire, and how Chicago was restored to the great city it was. My only complaint is that it seemed that some of the pictures were out of place, and should have been in different...more

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Jul 08, 2011 Melody Savage rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 8th-common-core-unit-1, skimmed, wholesome-teen-reads

If all historical accounts could be written as Jim Murphy writes this one (and others), history would be engaging to a broader audience. I once read that informational writing is an art just as literature is. In Murphy's hands reporting truly is an art as he brings people, places, and events to life. His account of the Chicago fire of 1871 reads like a story with all of the applicable facts and figures neatly embedded so that you hardly notice how well you are understanding and retaining them. I...more

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Sep 22, 2012 Dayna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, history

This book was so interesting. I didn't know anything about the great fire of Chicago, how the city was built mostly out of wood, how the fire system worked back then, how people reacted under the widespread panic (reminded me a lot of Hurricane Katrina with looters and serious class clashes). At the same time so disheartening (who throws a glass of liquor onto an already burning child???), while also restoring my faith in humanity's capacity for good (those firemen holding the line till their sk...more

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Mar 29, 2010 Erin Ramai rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: award-winning-and-honor-books, informational-books-and-biographies, rated-and-reviewed, newbery

The Great Fire by Jim Murphy is appropriate for children in grades 5-9. It received a Newbery Honor Award in 1996. I listened to the Playaway audio version of this text.

The true story of the Chicago Fire of 1871 is a series of mistakes, almost to the point of being a comedy of errors. However, the destruction and the devastation were very real. The city was made almost entirely of wood and because there had been a drought and a fierce wind blowing, the fire was nearly impossible to contain. Peop...more The Great Fire by Jim Murphy is appropriate for children in grades 5-9. It received a Newbery Honor Award in 1996. I listened to the Playaway audio version of this text.

The true story of the Chicago Fire of 1871 is a series of mistakes, almost to the point of being a comedy of errors. However, the destruction and the devastation were very real. The city was made almost entirely of wood and because there had been a drought and a fierce wind blowing, the fire was nearly impossible to contain. People were not as afraid as they should have been because so many fires happened within a short period of time that they grew accustomed to hearing alarm bells and did not react accordingly. Engines were sent to the wrong locations and old equipment, which malfunctioned, was used to battle the blaze. They surrounded the fire with engines to keep it from spreading, but once it broke beyond those barriers, the fire was seemingly unstoppable. In order to stop the fire, they tried to deprive it of fuel by blowing up houses in the immediate vicinity and chopping up fences and sidewalks. Neither was very effective. Read to find out the extent of Chicago’s damage, what happened in the aftermath, and how a wrongfully accused cow became the scapegoat for The Great Fire.

In this information text, narration switches back and forth between the fire and a select group of witnesses, journalists and fire fighters. Around the middle of the book, people are introduced one right after the other and stories overlap; it is frantic and hard to follow. This may be purposeful. In a way, the text seems to mimic the frenzy of the fire. The illustrations and photographs, many of which are from the Chicago Historical Society, newspapers and Harper’s Weekly, are products of the time period being described. However, while authentic, the whole book is sepia toned and as a result sort of drab looking.

I gave the audio version of this book four stars, but I would give the actual text three. I dislike music on audio books, especially cheesy music intended to set an ominous mood, which is how this recording begins. The pace of the reading is brisk, which I appreciated because most audio books seem to take forever to listen to—this one did not. Also, because it’s recorded on Playaway, the annoyance of switching disks is eliminated. The quality of the recording sounds tinny and breathy, but after a while you get used to it. At dramatic moments toward the beginning of the text, the reading is slow and drawn out for emphasis. I found that a little irritating. There is enough drama in the story itself. All of the yelling is the same. Yet, Mali does alter his tone for male and female, adult and child voices. The best thing about the audio was that it propelled me onward. I’m not certain I would have finished this book or enjoyed it as much had I not listened to it.

In discussing the Newbery award criteria, this text is “accurate, clear and organized.” It is obvious that Murphy introduces the characters toward the beginning of the text and then continues their individual stories throughout the remaining chapters. It reads somewhat like a novel, which is an innovative way to approach information text. The text was also thoroughly researched and includes images from the Chicago Historical Society. The “delineation of characters” is clear aside from the frenzied descriptions of the fire. However, the main characters are easily traced throughout the text. The setting is very specific—Chicago, 1871. The plot is developed through the sub-plots of the main characters. This text does contribute a detailed account of the Chicago Fire to the annals of American literature. Yet, if I were a committee member, I might argue that the enjoyment of the text, at least my enjoyment, relied on the audio.
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Mar 10, 2012 Libraryqueen rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love Jim Murphy's ability to write about an event in history through the lens of those who lived it. In this book his research dispells the myths of the great fire that destroyed Chicago in 1871, and points out many errors in reporting and handling the fire, and natural forces that took place enbling the fire to travel far and fast across the city. The photographs and illustrations are well placed and help with visualizing the destruction but what I found most helpful were the maps of the city...more

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Apr 04, 2012 Out of the Stacks rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: hauser-list, non-fiction-high-school, non-fiction-middle-school, non-fiction-elementary

Jim Murphy's book about the fire that destroyed Chicago in 1871 is an excellent work for upper elementary through high school. Exploring this historic event fire from beginning through aftermath, Murphy uses first person accounts to tell the stories of several people who survived the chaos. Murphy also explains the weather conditions and the errors made by several individuals that helped the fire spread so quickly, and dispells the myth that Mrs. O'Leary's cow started it all. Illustrations and p...more

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Nov 17, 2011 Lindsay rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: informational

This Newbery Honor book has served as a great resource to our social studies curriculum of Illinois history. When we study the Great Chicago Fire, I use the maps throughout the book to show my students how the fire spread over time. Each Chicago map displays the area destroyed by Saturday night's fire and the area the fire spread to. Students are amazed with how quickly and how far it spread across the city. They also are captivated by the real photographs of the destruction provided by the Chic...more

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Andrea It is very interesting how captivating photographs can be in informational text. I can only imagine how intense the pictures in this book are, as fire...more
Nov 17, 2011 04:37pm

Deana Youkhana Each year, our 3rd grade class studies Chicago. What an important and interesting book to incorporate during that unit. I would use it with my 3rd gra...more
Nov 25, 2011 04:47pm

Karen I enjoyed reading this book and studying the fascinating illustrations. It appears to be historically accurate as supported by its multiple sources.Th...more
Dec 05, 2011 10:08pm

Oct 21, 2012 Heemin rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Great Fire
by Jim Murphy
Nonfiction
144 pages

A story on the Great Chicago Fire that left the town in ruins, it follows a few people and their accounts on the fire. It begins by stating that from the beginning, there were many factors stacked against them when the fire started. From the beginning, Chicago was highly flammable; almost all the buildings were made of wood, the roofs made of tar or shingles; the lots small and almost entirely filled with wooded outhouses, sheds, or barns; and walkwa...more The Great Fire
by Jim Murphy
Nonfiction
144 pages

A story on the Great Chicago Fire that left the town in ruins, it follows a few people and their accounts on the fire. It begins by stating that from the beginning, there were many factors stacked against them when the fire started. From the beginning, Chicago was highly flammable; almost all the buildings were made of wood, the roofs made of tar or shingles; the lots small and almost entirely filled with wooded outhouses, sheds, or barns; and walkways were elevated by wooden planks. And when the first fire started, no one paid attention because fires were so common and always extinguished very quickly. The first fire alarm was not turned in because the store owner said that fire fighters had already gone by. The second source of defense, the fire watcher did not turned in the alarm because he thought he was seeing the remains of the fire the night before. When he did send it, he sent it in the wrong direction and the runner failed to fix the location claiming it would confuse them further. The only two fire trucks sent the right way were old and hose powered. By now, the fire was already large and spreading, when the fire hydrants finally came, there were not enough, and the second alarm failed to send as a mistake in the runner’s part. By then, the winds were very strong and were pouring the sparks and burning cinders behind the firefighters. When the third alarm was eventually rung, all fire trucks went over to the scene, and the stronger trucks took the water supply of two weaker powered hose trucks. The hose trucks were holding crucial parts in the ring that the trucks had formed however, and the fire was left unchecked in these points. From here it ravaged across the entire city and became the Great Chicago Fire we know as today. This book from here follows the accounts of several people who were actually at the fire and shows the saddening facts on the lives lost and those left homeless, the fear that the people in the city faced when the fire became huge and they were separated from their families, and the gratitude that people felt when the rain came and stopped the major spreading of the fire.

This book was a major eye-opener for me. I always knew it destroyed most the buildings and it left many homeless, but I never knew to what extent. I always thought at that time, Chicago was still a small town and the reason for such a stir was that it burned down an entire city. I also thought the fire’s spread was the result of poor firefighting techniques, that everything worked like it was supposed to, just that it wasn't enough. Most of what I had heard beforehand on this topic was either wrong or just a half truth. When I saw the picture on the city from above, I refused to believe the size of the city, the buildings were either the smallest buildings I have ever seen, or formed a city of a size that seems huge in today’s standards. It also seemed that the firefighting ways were not completely to blame, not only did luck go against them with the high winds and drought that left all vegetation dry enough to burn quickly, but it seemed the people in charge of reporting the fire were more at fault then the actual firefighters or the techniques themselves. The most inspirational to me were the inhabitants of the city. Around 100,000 were left homeless and separated from their families, but that didn't daunt them. They went right away to finding their families in the crowd. Everyone also helped together to just rebuild the city. The task of clearing away the rubble and to start over the great city of Chicago was great, but they started it right away with better more fire proofed buildings and succeeded in astounding the world with the bounce back into the role of one of the leading cities in the U.S.
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Dec 10, 2010 Megan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: newberry-honor, non-fiction, english-420

This non-fiction book tells the story of the fire that burned down a huge portion of Chicago in 1871. Starting in the O'Leary's barn the book chronicles the fire's spread across the city and the chaos and destruction that ensued. The book includes plenty of pictures and primary documents. These, unfortunately, act as a respite from the author's uninteresting and often awkward prose. An interesting story rendered almost irredeemably boring. There has to be a more interesting boook on this subject...more

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Oct 16, 2011 Ashley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: newbery-honors, edwards-award, own, blog

Originally reviewed on my blog, Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing along with another of Murphy's Newbery Honor titles, An American Plague.

I believe Jim Murphy to be a pretty much perfect writer of non-fiction for children. His writing is very easy to follow, easy to understand but it isn't basic. He doesn't dumb the history down, or assume that his readers are going to be stupid. And, something I believe to be very important when writing history for young kids- he tells the history like a st...more

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Oct 29, 2010 Bob rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I listened to the audio version. Although a book intended for juvenile readers, it was interesting to listen to it. The author describes in detail the events of the huge Chicago fire of 1871. It is always interesting to see the effect, either positive or negative, of individuals in historical events. One person makes a flawed decision, and the effects of that are far-reaching. Another particular individual may perform heroic measures almost single-handedly and those efects, too, are significant.

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Dec 05, 2012 Alison Russell added it

Shelves: social-studies-nonfiction, young-adult-lit, for-teaching-text-features, middle-or-upper-elementary-grades

This book tells the story of the Chicago fire through text, illustrations, maps, and photographs. The text is informative and engaging, and the visual images are both appealing and useful to the reader. Parts or all of this text could be used in a Chicago or Illinois history class or unit. The book would also be great to use when discussing text features, because so many different features are incorporated into the book.

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Oct 23, 2010 Jenifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Audio. I have to give this three stars based solidity. If youth are assigned to read non-fiction or historical true accounts, this will be a good bet. For car-riding entertainment purposes, not as much. It was short and factual, but the jacket had promised thrilling and exciting, so I may have been oversold. It was more to the flavor of a documentary, kind of slow. The fire itself was quite amazing.

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Nov 10, 2012 Cathleen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, youth, audiobook

Both interesting and informative. Though the audio format precludes the illustrations of the print, not too much is lost. History is presented as a blended story representing several witness accounts.

audiobook note: Narrator Taylor Mali has an extremely pleasant natural reading voice, but his efforts to alter it for different characters are not as successful.

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Mar 01, 2013 Stephen Smith rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a fair book,but it did have some great pictures in it. I would not have students read it unless they liked the retold stories from individuals in history. It did seem to drag on at times, but it was about a fire. I guess that is what it was written for. There were good stories of how people tried to lay blame on anyone and everyone. OK book

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Dec 03, 2011 Alex Whitney rated it 3 of 5 stars

although this would be a hard book for 3rd graders to read and anyone lower it would be a great informational book to children to see what a real fire can do because i live in an area with many forest fires it would be a great book to read to the children and just let them imagine the destruction that this can do to the land and to a family.

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The Great Fire (Newbery Honor)

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